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Russia not for sanctions on Iran

Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW: Russia reiterated its opposition to sanctions against Iran over its nuclear programme as diplomats from Big Five met in Moscow to discuss the Iranian crisis.

"We are convinced that neither sanctions nor the use of force will help solve the problem," said Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin on Tuesday. He emphasised that Moscow remained committed to diplomatic solution for the standoff.

Later on Tuesday, Russia hosted a meeting of high-ranking diplomats from the five permanent U.N. Security Council members — Russia, the United States, China, Britain, and France — plus Germany to ponder their next steps after Iran refused to suspend uranium enrichment.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met in Moscow on Monday Chinese Assistant Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai to coordinate their positions ahead of Tuesday's meeting.

Russia and China have both opposed the United States push for sanctions against Iran and urged using purely diplomatic means to resolve the crisis.

Iran's envoy to Russia said Teheran was ready to throw its nuclear programme open for international inspections.

"We are prepared to ensure full transparency of our nuclear programme in cooperation with the IAEA [International Atomic Energy Agency]," Ambassador Golamreza Ansari told Echo of Moscow radio on Tuesday.

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